Page:Our Sister Republic - Mexico.djvu/121

Rh pleased, all happy, and all anxious to welcome the strangers from the North.

We were driven directly to a house, in elegance of appointment the counterpart of that of Señor Huarte at Colima, but on a much grander scale, and as soon as we were in doors, the keys were presented to Mr. Seward, and the whole establishment was placed at his disposal; he was told to consider it his own, and each member of the party requested to order what he desired, from a drink of water to a carriage, during our stay. With the exception of the servants, the party were the sole occupants of the entire premises, and we were most emphatically "at home" for the week. Gov. Cuervo, with much consideration, sent word that as we had traveled so far, and must be very weary, he would postpone his call until morning, and we were left alone for the night! And such a night!

Dinner over, I wandered alone out into the streets, visited the grand plaza, and saw the people of the city, old and young, rich and poor, proud and lowly, sitting on the seats beneath the orange trees, conversing and passing the time happily and innocently away, myself alone, of all the crowd, unknowing and unknown. I heard the visit of Mr. Seward and party frequently mentioned, and some curiosity as to its object and full purport expressed; but no unkind sentiments, no harsh suspicions were uttered in my hearing, and there seemed to be but one feeling toward the visitors.

In this proud old city, the source of unnumbered revolutions and pronunciamentos in times gone by, I heard more whisperings of love than talk of war on that delicious evening; and when I retired to rest, the soft, fragrant air, heavy and sensuous with the breath of